Fascinating Foliage.... by Hidden Valley Hibiscus

Anyone who has ever hybridized hibiscus has seen the unusual and wonderful leaves that are often characteristic of baby plants grown from seed. These leaves take fantastical shapes and can even be red, white, or other colors. Unfortunately, such leaves, called juvenile leaves, disappear by the time the seedling plant is about a year old, usually shortly before it blooms for the first time. The leaves that are typical of modern hibiscus replace the juvenile leaves as the plants mature.

Over the years many visitors to HVH have remarked on the fascinating foliage of our baby seedling plants and asked if they could obtain varieties with those types of leaves. In the past we always had to say it just wasn't possible since those leaves disappear as the plants grew older.

But now, for the first time, modern hibiscus varieties are available with both great flowers and this remarkable and unusual foliage. These varieties make leaves when young that do not change as the plants mature. Instead, they retain their beautiful and different foliage throughout their lives. We decided to call our new hybrids "Fascinating Foliage" varieties because it is the foliage that gets your attention first. The amazing thing about our Fascinating Foliage varieties is how varied these hibiscus are in both leaf form and flower color.

Interestingly, we discovered that along with retaining their juvenile leaves, these new hybrids all exhibit good strength, vigor, and a full, upright growth habit. Overall, these varieties turned out to be easier to grow than many other varieties, as if they retain youthful growing vigor along with the youthful leaves.